


The story of the Tucks

by IoccasionallyWriteStories



Category: Tuck Everlasting - Miller/Tysen/Shear & Federle
Genre: F/M, Gen, Proofreading is for smart people, aka not me, tell me if there are any typos please, uhm mentions of character deaths that happen in the musical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 13:23:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16430201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IoccasionallyWriteStories/pseuds/IoccasionallyWriteStories
Summary: None of all the tricks the old ladies had entrusted to him were helping him at the moment. Hugo had tried everything from singing songs (daddy, you can't sing!) to giving them milk with honey. Luckily Winnie knew what to do.Or: Winnie tells her kids about the Tucks.





	The story of the Tucks

None of all the tricks the old ladies had entrusted to him were helping him at the moment. Hugo had tried everything from singing songs (daddy, you can't sing!) to giving them milk with honey. It seemed to be working a bit on Angus, but Mae had gotten a sugar rush from the honey and was bouncing on her bed. Frustrated he ran a hand through his hair and considered just leaving the room and telling his wife that the children had fallen asleep without a problem. Knowing Winnie, she would see right through him and give him that I-know-you're-lying-look. Seriously, sometimes he thought his wife was way more observant than he was and he was a police officer for God's sake.

Speaking of Winnie, she had just entered the room and was looking at their son and daughter with a fond smile on her face. "They've got this from you. I was a good girl, always in bed at seven." He drew her into his arms and buried his nose in her red hair. Age was painting silver streaks in it, but he loved them just as much as he loved the wrinkles that were showing up on both of their faces. Something about the whole growing old together thing always made him feel warm inside and his heartbeat slowed down, because her whole presence felt like home to him. 

"From my side? Are you sure about that? I wasn't the one who got lost in the woods you know." The remark made her eyes sparkle with something Hugo had never been able to identify. Multiple times he had tried to get her to open up about her disappearance, but he always got a mysterious smile in return. Notions of those days always made her look fond, longing and a tad bit sad at the same time. When she thought of it, childish innocence shone through her ageing face and mixed with the wisdom she had gained throughout the years. She looked ethereal in those moments, both impossibly young and old at the same time. Winnie possessed a weird sort of everlasting beauty.

His wife sat down on Angus' bed and patted the spaces beside her. As his kids sat down next to her, he sat down in the ancient rocking chair in the corner of the room. With soft gestures, Winnie brushes her daughter's red curls and she laid her son's head on her lap. With a most gentle voice, she started to tell a story.

"When I was eleven years old, I ran away from home."

Hugo's eyebrows shoot up at the statement. "You ran away?"

"Let mommy tell the story." Mae grunts  just as Angus says: "Don't interrupt mom." His wife gave him a teasing wink. "It's rude to interrupt people Hugo dearest." Sighing, he raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry darling, please continue." Both of his kids made noises of agreement at that statement.

"So I ran away and stumbled upon a boy in the forest."

Mae gasped. "Was it daddy?" When Winnie shook her head, Mae frowned. "Then why are you telling this story?" His youngest has always been a sucker for romantic stories and Hugo didn't know where she got it from. "It is a romantic story, sort of." This answer seemed to please her and Mae gestured at her mother to continue.

"This boy's name was Jesse Tuck and was being all weird about the spring in our woods. He told me not to drink from it. Do you wanna know why?"

Angus nodded so enthusiastically his head almost flew off.

With a secretive whisper Winnie got closer to their kids. "It's because...the water from the spring turns people immortal!"

The kids seemed to eat it all up, but Hugo doubts that that really happened. Though when he looked at his wife, he saw no trace of lies on her face. Winnie was not a good liar and Hugo was curious about what happened.

"Of course I didn't believe him. Later that day, I met his brother and mother. They kidnapped me."

"They what?" Hugo asked incredulously. 

Calmly Winnie repeated the phrase. "They kidnapped me. But it wasn't that bad to be honest. They took good care of me. His dad got so excited that he went fishing, just for me! His mother lent me the clothes of his brother's child. She even showed me her wedding dress! It was a most beautiful thing. Mae Tuck taught me some important things."

Mae's head shot up at the mention of her name. "She's got the same name as me!" Winnie nodded. "Guess the name of the father." Shyly Angus answered her. "Was it Angus?" Proudly, Winnie placed a kiss on her son's nose. "Exactly."

"That day, Mae told me that looking back, is something to look forward to. At that time, I didn't understand her. She would live forever and at that time, that I thought that was the most amazing thing ever. But now..." 

Winnie looked at her children with the utmost adoration in her eyes. As they looked at her in confusion, she hugged both of them close. Then she turned towards him and in her eyes he saw everything he felt at the moment. He couldn't put the amount of love he had for his wife into words and hoped his gaze conveyed as much emotion as hers did.

"Now I know better. Immortality is nothing next to this. But there are people who would do anything for it. A man in yellow found out the secret of the Tucks too. He threatened to kill me if they didn't disclose the location of the pond. He ended up getting killed by Mae. Then your father and grandpa turned up, ready to arrest my kidnappers."

Angus snorted at that. "Way to go dad, you were three years too late."

"The Tucks are now on the run from the law. Before he left, Jesse gave me a vial with water from the spring. He gave me the choice to drink it when I became seventeen. As you can see, I didn't drink it. I dumped it over my toad. The end."

As the children giggled over the story while Winnie tucked them in, Hugo mulled it over in his head. When he arrived on the scene, he had indeed seen a family of four. Growing up, he had also heard the stories of melodies that had been coming from the woods since forever. When he thought of all the strange stories he had heard, it didn't seem that Winnie's story was less than the truth. 

"Did all of that really happen?" He asked her and Winnie nodded. "I kept some sad parts out for the children, but I didn't lie. You may choose to not believe me if you want." Once again he drew her into his arms. He kissed her softly on her forehead. "Winnifred Foster, you are many things, but a liar is not one of them. I believe you." She smiled up at him and kissed him on the lips. "One day I will tell them the full, uncensored story of the Tucks. Will you listen too?" While tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, he nodded. 

As Mae and Angus Foster-Jackson entered the graveyard, they saw a family of four standing at their mother's grave. "Angus, look at that boy. Blond, tiny and certainly not older than seventeen. Do you think that's the Jesse Tuck mom talked about?"

Angus scoffed. "Do you really believe mom's stories about immortal humans? You're not a kid anymore Mae, grow up." But as he looked at the group of people he noticed more and more similarities with his mother's stories. The red headed woman and her husband couldn't be anyone other than Mae and Angus Tuck. The older brother had to be Miles Tuck. Their mother had borrowed his son's clothes. The blond boy had the same look in his eyes as his mom had when she talked about the Tucks. Impossibly fond and sad at the same time.

Mae saw disbelief, happiness and sadness dancing across her older brother's face and took his hand. She inhaled deeply and walked over to the family with her brother in tow. "Hello!" She called out. "Are you by any chance the Tucks?"

Startled, they looked at her and Angus. "My mother told us your story so many times." Realisation dawned on them and Angus smiled at them as tears welled up in his eyes. "Would you tell it to us one last time?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on tumblr if you want to, I’m rivertellsstories over there.


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